GNPC Archives - Apex News GH

GNPC and Explorco Refute Allegations Over Data Submission in Springfield Asset Valuation

The Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) and its subsidiary, GNPC Explorco, have issued a strong denial of recent allegations suggesting their involvement in the submission of outdated or secondary data for valuing Springfield Exploration and Production Limited’s interest in the West Cape Three Points Block 2 (WCTP-2). These allegations resurfaced following a press release from the Ministry of Energy and Green Transition, which claimed that GNPC and Explorco provided 2020 data, previously used in an arbitration case, instead of more recent 2024 appraisal data for valuation purposes. In a detailed statement released on Monday, GNPC and Explorco dismissed the claims as both misleading and inaccurate. They clarified that they never supplied U.S.-based consultancy Sewell & Associates with any secondary data from the 2020 Aryeetey Report. Instead, the corporations pointed out that the Sewell report itself includes a disclaimer confirming that all data used was supplied exclusively by Springfield. GNPC and Explorco further stated that they had received no communication from Springfield regarding the submission of such data and were unaware that Springfield had commissioned the valuation. Responding to the accusation that the same dataset contributed to Ghana losing an international arbitration case, GNPC insisted that the use of 2020 data was “solely Springfield’s” decision. Neither GNPC nor Explorco, they emphasised, influenced or directed the data used for the Sewell valuation. The corporations also highlighted that Sewell’s disclaimer noted the absence of raw geoscience data for the relevant block, and the firm relied on a 2020 GNPC estimate as provided by Springfield. This, they said, clearly demonstrates they were not responsible for the data supplied. Dismissing further accusations, GNPC and Explorco insisted they did not withhold updated 2024 primary data, maintaining they “were not in control of the process” and could not have concealed any information. They also rejected claims of an attempt to inflate valuations, stressing they had no involvement in the data submission process. Addressing a separate allegation that more than US$700 million of state funds were at risk due to manipulated or discredited information, GNPC described this as entirely false. The Corporation asserted that it has never valued Springfield’s asset at US$700 million nor advised the government to make payments on such a basis. Rather, internal evaluations are routine commercial assessments considering various scenarios, not final valuation recommendations. GNPC affirmed that the government is commencing a transparent process to recruit a competent technical firm and transaction advisor to conduct an independent valuation of the WCTP-2 and related assets, using the most current data available. The Corporation reassured the public that all decisions regarding the Springfield asset have been transparent and are conducted in the best interest of the Ghanaian people. The statement was issued by the Corporate Affairs Division of GNPC. Source: Apexnewsgh.com

Politics

Attorney-General entraps Freddie Blay and others on GNPC board in 7.2million financial loss

It has emerged that, the board and management of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) could be indulging in an act of illegality by going ahead to pay a whopping GHC9 million as severance package to ex-Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Dr Kofi Koduah Sarpong. The Herald’s investigations into the demand by Dr Sarpong, who was a Managing Director of the GNPC, have revealed that he is entitled to less than GHC2 million, but not the GHC9 million the board and management are being forced to cough up on the orders of the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame. GNPC insiders, have disclosed to The Herald that per the agreement that brought Dr Sarpong to the institution in January 2017 to this year, when he left despite demanding an extension of his tenure in office, he is only entitled to GHC1.8 million, and that any amount beyond this, would amount to an act of illegality. The Herald, had picked up reports that the board of GNPC, is about to dole out a whopping GHC9 million to Dr Sarpong, who was sent home after a five-year tenure. The payment of the severance package is said to be on the direction of the Attorney General and Minister of Justice,. It is unclear, how the Attorney-General arrived at the GHC9 million. However, details of Dr Sarpong’s contract in the custody of The Herald, mentioned his monthly gross basic salary at the time of his engagement as Eighty Thousand Ghana Cedis (GH¢80,000.00) but added the “salary shall be reviewed annually by the Board on or about the anniversary date of the appointment”. He also took home a duty allowance of thirty five percent (35%) on monthly salary per the contract. A portion of the contract and termination said that “upon separation from the Corporation, the Chief Executive shall if termination is before the end of his contract, be entitle to six (6) months’ notice upon payment of six (6) months basic salary in lieu of notice. Taxes due shall be borne by the Corporation”. He was to “be entitled to four (4) months of his monthly gross salary for each year worked, as separation pay” and “be paid 30% of his full annual gross salary as performance bonus”. The GNPC board led by Freddie Blay, the immediate past National Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) had earlier kicked against the payment of a severance package to Dr Sarpong, saying he was not entitled to any such payment, because he had finished his tenure. But The Herald’s information was that, Dr Sarpong, who was dissatisfied with the decision of the board, through his lawyer, Kwabena Tahir Hammond also known as KT Hammond, petitioned the Attorney General on the matter. The Attorney General, is said to have written to the GNPC, authorising them to pay Dr Sarpong some GHc9 million. The directive is said to have left a bitter taste in the mouths of many staff and management of GNPC, and they have since been murmuring. They feel politicians in the ruling party, have ganged up to rape the state coffers. The Herald, is meanwhile hearing about some huge debt left behind by Dr Sarpong’s management. There are reports that even some members of the board, are livid at the instruction of the A-G. Some insiders, have claimed that the amount previously demanded by Dr Sarpong from the board, was by far less than what the A-G, has directed GNPC to pay him. Dr Sarpong was over aged at the time of his appointment, having gone beyond the mandatory retirement age of 60 years for a CEO of GNPC. He was 63 at the time, but was pushed by the then Energy Minister, Boakye Agyarko. Below are portions of Dr Sarpong’s contract signed on h July 26, 2017 REMUNERATION In remuneration for the employment the Company will pay to the Employee a monthly gross basic salary of Eighty Thousand Ghana Cedis (GH¢80,000.00) 2. Salary shall be reviewed annually by the Board on or about the anniversary date of the appointment 3. A duly allowance of thirty five percent (35%) shall be paid on monthly salary 4. An annual performance bonus shall be paid at the rate of thirty (30%) or the maximum rate approved for the staff of the Corporation whichever is higher. 5. Employer Provident Fund equivalent payments will be pay into a private fund of your choice. Similarly, Employee Provident Fund deductions will be paid into the same private fund of your choice. 6. The Company, shall provide the Chief Executive with a fully furnished residential accommodation. If he elects to live in his own private accommodation, he will be paid housing allowance annually at the rate of 50% of annual gross salary. 7. In addition, to the housing allowance, the Chief Executive will be paid the prevailing housing furnishing cash allowance of GH¢80,000.00, if he elects to live in his own private residence (This is paid every 4years) 8. The Company, shall provide or pay for One (1) Cook; One (1) House help, One Gardener and Security service at the Chief Executive’s residence. 9. The Chief Executive will be provided with a computer, printer, scanner, shredder, fax machine, telephone landline, internet facilities and a 45KVA generator at his residence. 10. The cost of utilities (i.e. electricity, water and residential telephone service, DSTV (premium bouquet), internet service, mobile phone and generator fuel will be borne by the Corporation. However, an election can be made for the Utility Allowance to be paid at the existing 12% rate (per Corporation policy) in lieu of the above utility costs 11. The Company shall provide the Chief Executive with two duty post for use together with a driver assigned on full time basis. The maintenance and fuel for the two vehicles will be cost to the Corporation 12. Once every year, the Chief Executive’s spouse is permitted to accompany him on official business at the expense of the Corporation for a period of not

Opinion, Politics

GNPC could have managed this much better–Alex Mould

The former Chief Executive Officer of Ghana National Petroleum Corporation Alex Mould has posted in his Facebook account that the GNPC could have managed the current happening better by informing the select committee of Parliament. Below are the full details: I think GNPC could have managed this much better by informing the select committee of Parliament after the purchase was done in October exactly what the process was for the acquisition of the 7% from the Oxy sale of remaining Anardarko Africa-assets: – To make its bankruptcy removed from the remaining Anadarko African assets sold to Kosmos; and -How GNPC via Explorco intended taking over that SPV in Cayman Island set up by Oxy Secondly, they could’ve been very clear to Parliament about how they intended financing Explorco; – If government of Ghana was lending the money to Explorco then it will fall under the PRMA – If Explorco was raising the money through Notes sold to investors in the Capital markets , whom could include Ghana government, then my understanding is that it would not be governed by the PRMA All this could have been done by GNPC as soon as the transaction closed in October. It’s been 3months with no information shared All acquisitions are clear on which entity is buying and which is selling, and how the acquisition is being funded It was very clear from Kosmos It is not too clear in GNPC’s case Kosmos came out within a few days It’s been 3 months Apexnewsgh.com/Ghana/Ngamegbulam Chidozie Stephen Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 05555568093

Business

How Energy Minister Almost Got Sacked By Akufo-Addo …As He & Others Plotted To Outsmart President In US$550 Million Oil Transaction

The founder and Chief Executive Officer of Springfield Energy, Kevin Okyere, has emerged as the trusted front man of the Energy Minister, Dr. Matthew Opoku-Prempeh alias “NAPO” who came close to being fired by President Akufo-Addo, for showing him utmost disrespect by refusing to carry out a stern instruction over an important transaction priced at US$550 million. In a recently concluded transaction between Occidental (Oxy) and Kosmos Energy for the takeover of the former’s stake in the Jubilee and TEN fields, “NAPO” sought to rely on Kevin to throw a wrench into the transaction that has taken months to negotiate. NAPO, Kelvin, Gabby and KK Sarpong, had wanted to scuttle the Occidental (Oxy) and Kosmos Energy US$550 million deal by forcing in Kevin’s Springfield and International Petroleum Corporation (IPC) quoting US$750 million as their bid price. According to our trusted sources, International Petroleum Corporation (IPC) approached the Energy Minister with a proposal to buy the stake of Oxy in Ghana. Dr. Opoku-Prempeh, rather referred the proposal to his front man to partner IPC with his company (Springfield) to put up a counter bid. In the haste to make a deal out of the situation, IPC, Dr. Opoku-Prempeh and Kevin, assumed some authority they do not have; they made an offer to Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) rather than the company (Oxy) that was selling the assets. With full knowledge of what he was scheming, Dr. Opoku-Prempeh, began to frustrate the transaction between Oxy and Kosmos by delaying his approval. This had to take the intervention of the President after he went to Texas to meet Kosmos and Occidental in September. After meeting the companies, the president gave specific instructions for the deal to be approved by the Energy Minister. However, at his usual best, Dr. Opoku-Prempeh, ignored the President and kept it at the ministry of energy to frustrate the transaction. This Compelled Oxy to write a letter to Dr. Opoku-Prempeh to strongly indicate that if he (Energy Minister) failed to approve the transaction by October 13, 2021, they would not proceed with the sale of the asset to anybody else. That could only incite the flamboyant anger of the “prince” of Ghana’s Energy sector to entrench his position to frustrate the transaction. It appears Dr. Opoku-Prempeh, was not alone, but had the support of the GNPC boss KK Sarpong and Gabby AsareOtchere-Darko, the President’s trusted cousin with Nana Bediatuo Asante, also in another corner pursuing his own agenda and financial interest. Two clear weeks after President Akufo-Addo had instructed the approval of the Oxy-Kosmos transaction, his cousin; Gabby was using his media house Asaase Radio to tout the benefits of GNPC opting for the Springfield-IPC proposal. KK Sarpong, the expert “Over-valuer”, had also begun engaging Kevin’s Springfield and IPC to put US$750 million bid, as though they were the owners of the asset, having been consumed by the mistaken belief that they could front for Springfield and IPC. While, Dr. Opoku-Prempeh, Kevin and KK Sarpong kept to their corner, another member of the Akufo-Addo family, the Executive Secretary to the President, Nana Asante Bediatuo, emerged to do more damage to Oxy and Kosmos. He is also believed to have come up with another company, Protronor, at the last hour, despite being privy to the directive of the President for the Minister of Energy to approve the transaction between Oxy and Kosmos. It came to the attention of the President that NAPO and his cousins, have disrespected his orders and kept at a tussle for the assets. On Tuesday October 12, 2021, it came to the attention of President Akufo-Addo that Oxy, had written to Dr. Opoku-Prempeh with Wednesday October13, 2021 deadline. President Akufo-Addo, called for an emergency meeting at the seat of government; Jubilee House to find a solution to the problem. The Herald’s sources indicate that Dr. Opoku-Prempeh, refused to pick the call of the president and hence did not participate in the meeting. However, the presence of Gabby, Egbert Faibille, the CEO of the Petroleum Commission and KK Sarpong was enough for the crunch meeting to agree that Dr. Opoku-Prempeh approves the transaction before the close of day October 13. This left the Energy Minister with no option than to approve the transaction to save his job, after causing the old man to stay up to 12 midnight to find a solution to his mess driven by greed and selfishness. Interestingly yesterday, the Energy Minister, pretended everything was fine betweenhim and the outgoing company he had tried to outsmart when news from his ministry said “Hon. Dr. Matthew OpokuPrempeh, has applauded the move by Anadarko Petroleum Ghana to transfer new shares to Kosmos Energy Ghana”. “At a meeting at the Ministry of Energy in the presence of officials of the National Oil Company, Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), the Energy Minister described Anadarko’s decision to transfer their existing shares in the West Cape Three Points (WCTP) to Kosmos Energy as a step in the direction. He said selecting Kosmos as their preferred buyer is also very much in order as they exit the petroleum agreement between the company and Ghana”. It went on to say that “Dr. Prempeh underscored the essence of due diligence in the transfer process , as he on the back of the available information and briefing expressed consent to the sale and transfer of shares”. “The Minister indicated Ghana’s commitment to sound Investor Relations. This cordiality in his view would ensure that Ghana judiciously exploits its petroleum resources for the benefit of its people”. But interestingly, the sale of Oxy assets of two producing fields (24% on Jubilee and 17% on TEN) at US$550 million raises fundamental questions about the recent Aker Energy’s asking price for its Pecan and AGM fields. Jubilee and TEN are producing fields that generate revenue from day one of purchase. Yet GNPC did not pay attention from the beginning when Oxy wanted to sell, only to appear last hour as a front for other companies. But rather

Business

Massive Wage Bill & Senseless Procurements Collapsing GNPC

Details are beginning to emerge about how the wage bill of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) have been bloated with the biggest employment ever recorded in the history of the institution. The last four years, has seen lots of staff recruitments into the Corporation, but The Herald was told, most of these staff, are not technically inclined to assist in the core mandate of GNPC; exploration. They are said to be largely administrative staff. As at January 2021, the staff numbers of GNPC was at 536 from 256 as of January 2017, when the current Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Dr. Kofi Koduah Sarpong, took over the reins of the institution with Freddie Blay as Board Chairman. The Herald, has dug out some numbers revealing that from January 2017, 256 employees were at the Corporation, but a year later (January 2018) the staff number shot up to 315. It was to increase to 447 in January 2019, then to 484 in January 2020 and 536 in January 2021. There are claims from insiders that, GNPC is running out of cash, and might soon have difficulties paying staff salaries. Some of the newly recruited staff, were reported to be ex-staff of the collapsed Royal Bank, who the GNPC CEO, used to be board chairman. Insiders, have painted a picture of an institution that is decaying, tardy and unproductive, which must be salvaged from the current management of Dr. Sarpong, and board of directors led by the National Chairman of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr. Blay, who has just been retained. Recently, The Herald revealed worrying developments in the Corporation based on the accounts of workers. Some have demanded a thorough audit of the corporation to appreciate the extent of the rot happening in the state institution under the present management. They mentioned procurement issues, property rentals, renovation works among others, as issues of concern, which are ongoing at the Corporation and need the urgent attention of the President, Nana Akufo-Addo, because they don’t see the Energy Minister, Mathew Opoku Prempeh, as leading a crackdown exercise at GNPC to stop the financial hemorrhage. The demands came on the heels of revelation by the Executive Director of the Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP) Ben Boakye that Dr Sarpong, while leaving the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) as Managing Director, left behind a debt of US$1.4 billion from a debt of about US$400 million. The ACEP boss said, “In 2015, a government committee, with the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) and KPMG, recommended further investigation into the debt and use of funds at TOR. However, as vulnerable as the Ghanaian public is, he gets rewarded with a more significant portfolio in GNPC”. Of particular interest to the GNPC insiders, are the reckless use of funds in the name of the GNPC Foundation headed by Ogyeahohoo Yaw Gyebi II, the Paramount Chief of Sefwi Anhwiaso traditional area, who doubles as the President of the National House of Chiefs and the granting of scholarship packages. Interestingly, Ogyeahohoo Yaw Gyebi II, who is on the GNPC board, is also a member of the Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC); an independent statutory body mandated to promote transparency and accountability in the management of petroleum revenues in Ghana, but many insiders, say his management of the GNPC Foundation, must be probed. PIAC, until recently was chaired by Dr. Steve Manteaw, but it doesn’t appear to have looked into the operations of GNPC. Also cited to The Herald, was the employment of cronies, which has bloated the workforce of GNPC. Both the current board and management have been in charge of the Corporation in the last four years, but many of the workers; both retired and serving, insist there is no clear direction for the strategic state institution. For instance, the workers alleged that the GNPC Foundation has recorded lots of mismanagement of funds in the award of scholarships. There are claims of politicians eating from funds allotted from the foundation, while the children of cronies of various managers are on one scholarship or the other. This paper learnt that the Corporation has recorded some procurement issues in recent times. Mention was made of a building at a suburb of Takoradi in the Western Region bought from the owners of Global Haulage, whose financial institution; Royal Bank, the GNPC Chief Executive had worked with before its collapse, following the clean-up of the banking sector. The Global Haulage building, this paper learnt, was bought for nearly US$8 million, and there are claims of conflict of interest against Dr Sarpong in those procurement. What is interesting is that at the time of purchasing the Global Haulage building, GNPC, had almost completed a building project which started under the management of Alex Mould during the John Mahama administration. The uncompleted building, The Herald, learnt has been left to the vagaries of the weather. Furthermore, mention has also been made of the renting of a building facility from one John Taylor at Tema, near the Petroleum House, which has been under renovation for years now without any end in sight. Indeed, many say the renovation work had been abandoned, while GNPC continues to cough up outrageous amounts in United States Dollars to settle the said Mr Taylor for the use of his building to house officials of the corporation. The cost of the rent, according to insiders, is running into millions of dollars, since GNPC occupied it some years ago, and there is no effort to stop the financial hemorrhage by completing the Petroleum House renovation works for the workers to return. The Freddie Blay board, is also mentioned as lacking technical expertise, hence difficult to monitor and evaluate the work of the management led by Dr. KK Sarpong, and to the insiders the return of the board will not bring anything of value to the country. Freddie Blay, is cited as sleeping on the job and signing many documents without reading them. Also mentioned is the construction of numerous

Opinion

Over-Aged GNPC Boss Dragged To Court.. Months After Domelevo’s Removal From Office For Attaining Compulsory Retirement Age

The Herald, has dragged Dr. Kofi Koduah Sarpong of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) to High Court, over his continuous stay in office as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the state-owned institution. Dr. Sarpong had attained the compulsory retirement age of 60 at the time of his appointment, and was aged 63 years. He is currently 67 years, but still remains at post. The lawsuit comes months after the President, Nana Akufo-Addo, on the same age grounds, sent the Auditor General, Daniel Yao Domelevo, packing out of office as the Auditor General because he had attained the compulsory retirement age for public service workers; 60 years. The President’s Executive Secretary, Nana Bediatuo Asante at the time, had in a statement on Mr Domelevo said “the attention of the President of the Republic has been drawn to records and documents made available to the Office by the Audit Service, that indicate that your date of birth is 1 June 1960 and that in accordance with article 199(1) of the Constitution, your date of retirement as Auditor General was 1 June 2020.” “Based on this information, the President is of the view that you have formally left office. Mr Johnson Akuamoa-Asiedu will continue to act as Auditor-General until the President appoints a substantive Auditor General,” part of the statement read, however, the Presidency is not applying the same principle in relations to Dr. Sarpong’s age. Interestingly, the GNPC boss, Dr. Sarpong, is not the only appointee of President Akufo-Addo who is over aged. Maxwell Kofi Jumah, a former NPP Mayor of Kumasi, former Member of Parliament for the Asokwa Constituency in the Ashanti Region, who is the Managing Director of GIHOC Distilleries Company Limited, is currently 71 years, yet still at post just like the GNPC boss. The writ filed in the name of the Editor of the Herald Newspaper, Larry-Alans Dogbey, names the GNPC, the Attorney General and Dr Sarpong as respective first, second and third defendants. Mr Dogbey, in the suit filed on his behalf by Lawyer Eric Asuman–Adu argues that the laws of the country were breached in the latter’s appointment as GNPC CEO as had attained the compulsory retirement age of 60 at the time of his appointment and was aged 63 years. He further argues that Dr Sarpong’s appointment as caretaker CEO of GNPC by President Akufo-Addo on January 19, 2017, was in contravention of Article 80 of the Constitution of Ghana and Section 10 (6) of the GNPC Act 1983 (PNDCL 64) because it was done by the President through the then Minister Designate for Energy, Boakye Agyarko who had not yet taken office as minister. According to the plaintiff, the appointment of Dr Sarpong was from the outset, a nullity, adding that the attorney general, who is the second defendant, shirked his duty, hence the appointment of Dr Sarpong as CEO of GNPC at a time that he was 63 and now 67 years. The plaintiff is of the opinion that Dr Sarpong’s appointment at 63 and his continuous stay in office at 67, offends PNDCL 64, especially section 27 and Article 199 (1) of the 1992 Constitution and the Labour Law (Act 651). The suit said Dr Sarpong will continue to stay in office if the court does not compel the appointing authorities to terminate his appointment “Plaintiff will aver that by all intends and purposes the appointment of 3rd Defendant as C.E.O. of 1st Defendant Corporation at age 63 and his continuous stay in office at age 67 offends against (P.N.D.C.L 64) especially section 27 of the aforementioned Act, Article 199(1) of 1992 constitution and the Labour Law (Act 651),” the writ of summons states. It is Mr Dogbey’s case that Dr Sarpong will continue to stay in office if the court does not compel the appointing authorities to terminate his appointment. He is therefore seeking an order declaring the appointment of Dr Sarpong as the Chief Executive Officer on January 24, 2017, and his continuous stay in office as illegal and of no effect. He also wants an order nullifying the appointment of Dr Sarpong as the Chief Executive Officer of GNPC. Additionally, he wants perpetual injunctions restraining the GNPC and the Attorney General from renewing Dr Sarpong’s contract of employment for another five-year term and an injunction restraining Dr Sarpong from holding himself as the CEO of GNPC. —theherald Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 05555568093

Business

Massive Rot Uncovered At GNPC ….Workers Demand Corporation Be Saved From K.K Sarpong & Freddie Blay

The Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) has been described as “can of worms” which must be opened up and thoroughly audited to appreciate the extent of the rot happening in the state institution under the management of Dr. Kofi Kodua Sarpong, its Chief Executive Officer (CEO). They mentioned procurement issues, property rentals, renovation works among others, as issues of concern, which are ongoing at the Corporation and need the urgent attention of the President, Nana Akufo-Addo, because they don’t see the Energy Minister, Mathew Opoku Prempeh, as leading a crackdown exercise at GNPC to stop the financial hemorrhage. The demands are coming on the heels of revelation by the Executive Director of the Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP) Ben Boakye that Dr Sarpong, while leaving the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) as Managing Director, left behind a debt of US$1.4 billion from a debt of about US$400 million. The ACEP boss said, “In 2015, a government committee, with the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) and KPMG, recommended further investigation into the debt and use of funds at TOR. However, as vulnerable as the Ghanaian public is, he gets rewarded with a more significant portfolio in GNPC”. Insiders, have painted a picture of an institution that is decaying, tardy and unproductive, which must be salvaged from the current management of Dr. Sarpong, and board of directors led by the National Chairman of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), Freddie Worsemawu Blay, who has just been retained. Also of particular interest to the GNPC insiders, are the reckless use of funds in the name of the GNPC Foundation headed by Ogyeahohoo Yaw Gyebi II, the Paramount Chief of Sefwi Anhwiaso traditional area, who doubles as the President of the National House of Chiefs and the granting of scholarship packages. Interestingly, Ogyeahohoo Yaw Gyebi II, who is on the GNPC board, is also a member of the Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC); an independent statutory body mandated to promote transparency and accountability in the management of petroleum revenues in Ghana, but many insiders, say his management of the GNPC Foundation, must be probed. PIAC, until recently was chaired by Dr. Steve Manteaw, but it doesn’t appear to have looked into the operations of GNPC. Also cited to The Herald, was the employment of cronies, which has bloated the workforce of GNPC. Both the current board and management, have been in charge of the Corporation in the last four years, but many of the workers; both retired and serving, insist there is no clear direction for the strategic state institution. For instance, the workers alleged that the GNPC Foundation, has recorded lots of mismanagement of funds in the award of scholarships. There are claims of politicians eating from funds allotted from the foundation, while the children of cronies of various managers, are on one scholarship or the other. This paper learnt that, the Corporation has recorded some procurement issues in recent times. Mention was made of a building at a suburb of Takoradi in the Western Region bought from the owners of Global Haulage, whose financial institution; Royal Bank, the GNPC Chief Executive had worked with before its collapse, following the clean-up of the banking sector. The Global Haulage building, this paper learnt, was bought for nearly US$8 million. What is interesting is that at the time of purchasing the Global Haulage building, GNPC, had almost completed a building project which started under the management of Alex Mould during the John Mahama administration. The uncompleted building, The Herald, learnt has been left to the vagaries of the weather. Furthermore, mention has also been made of the renting of a building facility from one John Taylor at Tema, near the Petroleum House, which has been under renovation for years now without any end in sight. Indeed, many say the renovation work, had been abandoned, while GNPC continuous to cough up outrageous amounts in United States Dollars to settle the said Mr Taylor for the use of his building to house officials of the corporation. The cost of the rent, according to insiders, is running into millions of dollars, since GNPC occupied it some years ago, and there is no effort to stop the financial hemorrhage by completing the Petroleum House renovation works for the workers to return. The last four years, has seen lots of staff recruitments into the Corporation, but The Herald was told, most of these staff, are not technically inclined to assist in the core mandate of GNPC. They are said to be largely administrative staff. The Freddie Blay board, is also mentioned as lacking technical expertise, hence difficult to monitor and evaluate the work of the management led by Dr. KK Sarpong, and to the insiders the return of the board will not bring anything of value to the country. Freddie Blay, is cited as sleeping on the job and signing many documents without reading them. Also mentioned is the construction of numerous facilities at educational institutions in the country, including the GHS12 million University of Mines and Energy (UMaT) and the US$5 million GNPC School of Governance and Law at the University of Cape Coast (UCC) in the name of getting GNPC Professorial Chairs in four public universities as some of the procurements which must be probed. About two weeks ago, the Executive Director of the Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP) hit hard at the GNPC boss, Dr. Sarpong, for insulting Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) over the US$1.65 billion controversial GNPC- AGM Petroleum and Aker Energy oil deal. Benjamin Boakye in an open letter, suggested that Dr. Sarpong’s escapades and incompetence at the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) and Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) were such that he should not have gotten any other public appointment, but he was rather given another job at GNPC. “TOR was handed to Dr Sarpong with a total debt of about $400 million. At the time, the State needed the genius to save the company. Not only that, the public was billed, through

Opinion

US$1.65 billion price tag on Aker Energy/AGM oil blocks hyper-inflated – NDC Minority

The Minority side of Parliament has described the US$1.65 billion price tag on the two oil blocks the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) wants to buy from Aker Energy and AGM as hyper-inflated and has demanded a thorough due diligence on the transaction being pushed by the Akufo-Addo government through the Energy Ministry. “The minority finds GNPC’s proposed benchmark price of $65 per barrel unrealistic and insists that the same should be reviewed downwards to a more realistic price thereby reducing the hyper-inflated proposed purchase price significantly”. The side made of members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in statement jointly signed by John Abdulai Jinapor, Ranking Member for Mines and Energy and Cassiel Ato Forson, Ranking Member for Finance, is asking for that “independent audits, valuation and appraisals must be conducted by GNPC to ensure value for money for the country before the deal is approved by Parliament”. The statement issued Sunday, 5th September 2021, stated that “with regards to the current proposed share acquisition transaction by GNPC in the Aker and AGM blocks, the NDC Minority is not against the policy or decision for GNPC to acquire higher stakes in the said oil blocks per se. However, it must be made clear that we have serious concerns about the proposed hyper-inflated purchase price of the blocks and demand that all the necessary due diligence”. This, the NDC MPs said, “must be done with a high sense of transparency, while taking on board the views of stakeholders, particularly Civil Society Organizations in the Extractive Industry”. It disclosed that “…the minority at the joint committee meeting held on Tuesday, 3rd August, 2021 to consider the requests by the Minister for Energy made the following observations and demands: “That, the request by the Minister for Energy for Parliament to grant a blanket approval for GNPC to proceed with the acquisition of 37% and 70% shares in the Aker and AGM blocks respectively, is improper”. “We demanded that GNPC goes back and negotiate the deal into one that addresses the value for money concerns raised by the Minority and some CSOs in the Extractive Industry and that same be presented to parliament for consideration and approval”, adding “that, in the event that the negotiated deal is approved, the minority demands that the loan agreement to purchase the shares therein should also be presented to parliament for consideration and approval”. “Additionally, the Minority demanded that GNPC as the buyer, engage the services of an independent and reputable international financial institution to conduct a full appraisal and risk assessment of the Aker and AGM blocks. The presentation from GNPC indicated that Aker and AGM have added 267 million barrels to the blocks since they took over. The Minority equally demanded for a full audit of this claim and the expenditure incurred by Aker and AGM following the acquisition of the oil blocks by a reputable and independent audit firm”. According to the statement, “the minority both at the committee level and plenary, raised serious concerns about the decision by Aker Energy to use a projected benchmark price of $65 per barrel for the valuation, as adopted by the independent technical consulting firms, namely, Pareto Securities, Arctic Securities and Lambert Energy Advisory”, adding “the minority finds GNPC’s proposed benchmark price of $65 per barrel unrealistic and insists that same should he reviewed downwards to a more realistic price thereby reducing the hyper-inflated proposed purchase price significantly”. The statement said that “the minority demanded that all the relevant technical and financial documents relevant to the Agreement, particularly the necessary appraisal, valuation and/or audit reports must be submitted to Parliament by the Minister prior to the presentation and consideration of the final negotiated Agreement”. “For emphasis, the Minority maintained both at the Committee level and plenary, that the average international market price of crude oil over the next 30 years cannot be more than US$65 as suggested by government and indicated very forcefully, that we will not accept that benchmark price which appears to have been adopted by the independent valuation agencies”. “For the avoidance of doubt, both the negotiated Acquisition Agreement and the Loan Agreement consequent upon same, will have to be laid before Parliament by the Minister for Energy for consideration and approval” adding, “the Minority group in Parliament wishes to assure the Ghanaian public of our unflinching commitment to secure a fair deal for the State in this transaction. We will diligently scrutinize all the necessary documentations with eagle eyes and ensure value for money in this transaction for the Country”. Below is the full statement issued by the Minority… MINORITY’S POSITION ON THE ACQUISITION OF SHARES IN DEEPWATER TANO CAPE THREE POINTS AND SOUTH DEEPWATER TANO BLOCKS BY THE GHANA NATIONAL PETROLEUM CORPORATION (GNPC). INTRODUCTION On Monday, 2nd August, 2021 the Hon. Minister responsible for Energy, Hon. Matthew Opoku Prempeh laid before Parliament, a request for approval of the following transactions: (i) Acquisition of additional shares by GNPC Explorco of; ➢ 37% interest in Deep Water Tano/Cape Three Points (DWT/CTP) operated by Aker Energy Ghana Limited and ➢ 70% stake in the South Deep Water Tano (SDWT) operated by AGM Petroleum Ghana Limited (ii) Establishment of a Joint Operating Company between Aker Energy and AGM, and GNPC Explorco. (iii) Approval to mandate the Minister for Energy and the Minister for Finance to agree on a purchase price with Aker Energy/AGM. (iv) Provision of a loan not exceeding US$1.65 billion to finance the acquisition, comprising of a purchase amount not exceeding US$1.3 billion for the two blocks and a Capital Expenditure share of GNPC Explorco of US$350 million for Peacan 1. The request was subsequently referred by the Rt. Hon. Speaker of Parliament to the Joint Committee on Mines and Energy and Finance for consideration pursuant to Order 188 and 169 of the Standing Orders of Parliament. BRIEF BACKGROUND It will be recalled that in the year 2018, Aker Energy bought the Deepwater Tano Cape Three Points block from Hess Energy and announced

Business

K.K. Sarpong ‘appears more as Aker’s spokesperson than GNPC CEO’ – Ben Boakye

The Executive Director of the Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP), Mr Benjamin Boakye, has said the CEO of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), Dr K.K. Sarpong appears more of a spokesperson for Aker Energy than the arrowhead for the state oil company. In an article responding to some assertions made by Dr Sarpong against civil society organisations who have raised concerns about GNPC’s bid to acquire stakes in Aker and AGM oil blocs, Mr Boakye said: “The most worrying part of Dr. Sarpong’s public commentary is his extreme lack of control over the transaction he champions”. “It could be deliberate but the accompanying risk for Ghana is chilling”, Mr Boakye noted, adding: “He appears more as a spokesperson for Aker than GNPC, defending and changing numbers to make Aker look good”. “Dr Sarpong says he is not aware of Aker looking to sell its assets without success. This is not just unbelievable; it portrays a lack of attention to detail in his bid to short-change the public. If GNPC did any due diligence on why Aker wanted to sell, they would have chanced on online publications and direct quotes from the CEO of Aker Energy that they were looking for investors, including a possible sale of stakes to the market. That would have helped GNPC to investigate why they failed to get any buyer”, he said. In his article, Mr Boakye said: “Dr Sarpong doesn’t have control over the few numbers involved in this transaction. His struggle to remember what is informing the transactions only leaves him accusing CSOs of ignorance. All of a sudden, he is putting out new numbers different from what he presented to Parliament. He told Parliament that the total cost incurred by Aker is $800 million; this included an ambiguous $280 million described as money spent on other activities. Now Dr. Sarpong is quoting $399.2 million as the total cost incurred. It appears we are now making progress in the attempt to clean the transaction. Perhaps the more heat he gets, the lower the numbers for Ghana”. Read Mr Boakye’s full statement below: Ben Boakye asks: Who can compete with GNPC’s Kahuna to drive me more nervous? I have followed a series of interviews granted by Dr. KK Sarpong and sometimes froze, literally, in complete disbelief of what damage he is doing to the country in an attempt to litter the media space with hate for CSOs. By design or not, he injects extreme nervousness than I have seen. The strategy was evident; he pontificates his achievements in public life to sedate the minds of Ghanaians to think that he is doing the right thing with the Aker transaction. He tries hard to discredit CSOs in the crudest way possible, so the public will listen to him, not the CSOs. Additionally, he displays an unpardonable lack of control over the Aker transaction, which makes his amnesia of the history of Aker/AGM in Ghana almost forgivable. For the avoidance of doubt, CSOs have deliberately abstained from personalising this transaction, but we are capable of descending that lane. On Peace FM, Dr. Sarpong claimed an outstanding achievement of consigning Ghana Cocoa Board (Cocobod) to a debt-procuring enterprise for almost three decades. He owned the idea to syndicate loans to purchase cocoa beans, a practice that has escalated from borrowing hundreds of millions in the 1990s to billions today. Dr Sarpong should note that CSOs will not celebrate his legacy of debt procurement, instead of building capital for the trade of a commodity that Ghana continues to play a dominant role in the global supply market. It is even shocking that the GNPC Kahuna goes way back into time to account for his public life with such surgical precision on what he thinks is public-worthy. I would have thought that the most relevant and recent context of his public life to the ongoing Aker transaction is his stewardship of Tema Oil Refinery (TOR). TOR was handed to Dr Sarpong with total debt of about $400 million. At the time, the State needed the genius to save the company. Not only that, the public was billed, through the TOR Debt Recovery Levy, to support Dr. Sarpong to turn the company’s fortunes around. Instead, he left the company with a debt of over $1.4 billion, having received about $580m from the levy. In 2015, a government committee, with the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) and KPMG, recommended further investigation into the debt and use of funds at TOR. However, as vulnerable as the Ghanaian public is, he gets rewarded with a more significant portfolio in GNPC. Here again, his stewardship of the Corporation thus far remains a template of “how not to run a national oil company,” which will remain a subject of academic scrutiny for so long. He frustrated ExxonMobil on the selections of a local partner for one whole year, creating inactivity on Exxon’s block until Government compromised on Goil. Under his watch, the Government has paid about $260 million for unutilised domestic gas and flared about $200million worth of gas in 2020 alone. At the same time, Dr. Sarpong spends his time negotiating the import of LNG at an additional cost of about $300 million a year to the public on a take-or-pay contract, ignoring the warnings of IMF on the fiscal consequences in its article IV report for 2021. He demonises existing investors with his kitchen engineers, then comes out in the open crying about exiting investors and blaming energy transition. Aker’s jackpot is only one of many bad judgments of GNPC under his leadership. To avoid public scrutiny of the Aker transaction, the Kahuna of GNPC spends time bastardising CSOs and craftily portraying that we lack knowledge of the entire transaction. However, it gets too apparent that if he paid little attention to CSOs, some nervy moments in his interviews, which I will return to shortly, would have been avoided. On the point of lack of knowledge, he got worryingly deflated by

Business

I cannot foresee unutilised gas in Ghana, says Dr Sarpong

Dr Kofi Koduah Sarpong, chief executive officer of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) says if all stakeholders in the energy sector coordinated well on the use of gas, he does not foresee unutilized gas in the country. Speaking on Energy 101 on Asaase Radio with Emmanuel Aboagye-Wiafe, Dr Sarpong said, “I cannot foresee unutilized gas. You see I have defended this, if we coordinate very well; our sector Ministry will coordinate with VRA, the Energy Commission, GNPC and other users for this product, I cannot foresee any unutilized gas.” He was speaking on the need for the country to have the LNG project which he said was going to be very beneficial in the coming years. Dr Sarpong added, “I foresee a gas deficit in the next two, three years and the only way to fill it, is this LNG project which we have scaled it up that we can process 600 million standard cubic feet.” Some industry players have criticised the decision by the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) to partner with Shell to build a liquefied natural gas (LNG) regasification facility in the country. Misplaced and Wasteful The Institute for Energy Security (IES) in a recent statement said the LNG facility is a misplaced priority. “With ample proof that there is sufficient supply from domestic sources to meet the country’s gas needs, the contracting of a regasification facility at this moment is a misplaced priority and wasteful. “It is wasteful in the sense that it is going to worsen the excess supply situation, resulting in more cost to the country, in the face of the take-or-pay clause embedded in the liquefied natural gas (LNG) import contract,” the IES said. IES added that “the decision to build an LNG regasification facility in the country for purposes of importation is hasty and needless. There is absolutely no linkage to the short-term and long-term needs of the country. The decision to procure the facility at this moment will only contribute to the excesses and come at a cost to the country. The country is better off prioritizing investment into gas liquefaction than regasification. “Presently, the issue of supply of gas has well been addressed by domestic production. What is left to be solved in the demand-supply equation is the demand factor,” it said. But Dr Sarpong said, “people say there will be too much gas on the market. I can tell you that over the last three years, gas off-take from our fold increased significantly. In 2019, it was about 211 million standard cubic feet per day usage. Last year, it was about 296 million standard cubic feet per day on average…if we have enough gas, then we won’t bring gas from Nigeria. “We’ve been bringing gas from Nigeria via the West African Gas Pipeline into the country to be used by VRA for power generation and that should tell you that we don’t have enough gas locally. Maybe people are saying that, but if you have the Nigerian source why are you bringing in this one?” Fuel security Dr Sarpong said, “Having the LNG in the fuel mix is an advantage, for example sometimes the line from Nigeria is blocked or mutilated and there cannot be any flow from Nigeria to Ghana so supply is cut. Even our own fields; greater part of last year TEN fields was virtually down, Jubilee will produce but sometimes up to a certain level their plant trips… so if you have LNG coming in then when these things happen there will be another source of fuel supply.” He said the LNG product is cheaper and gives the country enough fuel security. “As I speak today, it’s [the LNG] cheaper than Sankofa and it’s cheaper than the gas coming from Nigeria. The only one which is cheaper is Jubilee and TEN which cannot give you the volumes that you need because of the constraints of production as well as constraints on the Ghana Gas plant.” Dr Sarpong added, “But even that is cheaper because the volumes we are pumping now together with what we call substitution agreement if we can’t get from Jubilee we can take from TEN at no price then it makes it cheaper for everybody. When that is finished there will be a price for those ones. “So in a way, we think that this LNG issue is an important thing. It’s going to give us fuel security and it’s going to be cheaper. People who are honest will do the analysis and say it as it is. We are producing from Sankofa we all know it’s expensive. You can’t do otherwise. It’s very expensive,” he added. The LNG facility The Tema LNG terminal is made up of a dedicated floating regasification unit (FRU), built by Jiangnan Shipbuilding, and a separate floating LNG storage (FSU). It can receive, re-gasify, store, and deliver around 1.7 million tonnes of LNG a year, about 30% of Ghana’s general capacity. The long-term supply deal between Royal Dutch Shell and the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation will see Spanish LNG terminal operator Reganosa, run and maintain the terminal and the associated 6-km gas pipeline for 12 years and then transfer operatorship to the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation. The Tema LNG, backed by Helios Investment Partners and Africa Infrastructure Investment Managers (AIIM), is the first offshore LNG receiving terminal in sub-Saharan Africa. The terminal will employ the innovative combination of the FRU twinned with an existing LNG carrier to receive, store and regasify LNG. This system provides Ghana with all the functionality of a large-scale FRU-terminal, but with added flexibility, allowing it to respond to rapidly increasing domestic gas demand with a cleaner and more affordable energy solution. The Tema LNG terminal aims to meet Ghana’s growing energy demand through an innovative yet cost-efficient, reliable supply. Asaase Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 0555568093

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I cannot foresee unutilised gas in Ghana, says Dr Sarpong

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